"Lincoln Must and Will Be Elected Again"
William Kelso in the 116th New York Infantry wrote these observations about Union soldiers and their choice for president in the Election of 1864. This portion of his letter was quoted in the Buffalo Weekly Express on September 27, 1864.
THE SOLDIERS AND THE ELECTION
We are permitted to make the following extract from a letter, dated Shenandoah Valley, Sept. 8, written by a member of the 116th Regiment to his uncle, who resides at Colden in this County:
There is a great deal of talk about the election among the boys and I have some stiff old arguments but I am generally enough for them. There are a good many of the boy that are tired of fighting and would like to have peace and get home again on any terms. I do not mean the majority of our men here by any means. I mean a class of unthinking individuals who enlisted without ever giving a thought to what hardships of a soldier’s life, and who would now vote just as unthinkingly for a “Peace President,” without ever giving a thought to what would be the result. But when a fellow gets down amongst and talks reason to them and pictures out to them a peace with the withdrawing of all our troops from their territory, and what would be their next step, they generally cave in and go in for Old Abe and for licking them out, if it should take three more years. And if you are as sound for old Abe at home as we are here, no fears for the result, in fact I have none any way. Lincoln must and will be elected again.
WM. KELSO.
Source:
"The Soldiers and The Election," Buffalo Weekly Express, Page 3, September 27, 1864. Accessed through Newspapers.com
